Focus will be on growing bike sharing programs in Cleveland, Detroit and other cities

Cleveland, OH (January 22, 2015) Zagster (http://www.zagster.com), the leader in providing private and hybrid public/private bike sharing services, has named Dana Allender as Regional General Manager for the Midwest. Zagster has been experiencing rapid growth in the region, managing public programs in Cleveland and near Columbus, as well as several programs (both public and private) in Detroit. Allender will be responsible for growing Zagster's existing programs as well as developing new markets across the Midwest. He will be based in Cleveland.

Dana Allender has been helping business succeed for more than 20 years. He recently held the position of VP, Emerging Markets at Onyx Power and Gas, a national energy consulting firm. A lifelong resident of Northeast Ohio, he first attended Kent State University (Stark Campus) before earning his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business from Walsh University. Since then, he has served on several boards, including the YMCA (Akron, Ohio), Coach Sam's Inner Circle Foundation and as President of the Kent State Alumni Association (Stark County). He recently served as Chair for the Greater Cleveland Council of Boy Scouts' "Friends of Scouting" Campaign and was an active member of Big Brothers Big Sisters. He currently serves as President of the Walsh University Alumni Board of Trustees, Cleveland Chapter.

Professionally, he served three terms as the President of the Ohio Chapter of the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals (Ohio Chapter) and as Chairperson for the Chapter Relations Committee serving the National Office. He has been an active member of a number of other industry organizations including The Energy Professionals Association, The Energy Professionals of Ohio, Direct Marketing Association, Electronic Retailing Association and the Northeast Ohio Direct Marketing Association.

In 2013, Zagster was the first to introduce bike sharing to Detroit after partnering with Quicken Loans to manage a program for its 9,200 downtown team members. DTE Energy followed Quicken Loans in 2014, and then in June of last year, General Motors became the first of any U.S. automaker to implement a bike share program when it launched Zagster for its 19,000 employees at its Technical Center in Warren.

Zagster partnered with several businesses, organizations and individuals to launch Cleveland's first bike sharing program, the first ever to be 100 percent led and funded by the private sector. After the Cleveland program experienced significant utilization and demand in the first month, Zagster nearly doubled the number of bikes and stations. The company plans to further expand the program this spring.

"With dozens of partners, more than 100 bikes and thousands of riders in Midwest cities, it's the right time for us to establish a full-time presence in the region," said Timothy Ericson, co-founder and CEO of Zagster. "Our low cost, flexible model that can be deployed quickly and easily is perfect for cities who want bike sharing but face financial, logistical or other obstacles. We've seen the demand in these markets, and we're investing in our ability to expand bike sharing across the region."

Zagster is developing a national footprint of bike sharing programs in partnership with real estate/multi-family companies, businesses, hotel chains and universities, all of whom are looking to provide value added services and benefits to residents, guests or area employees.

Currently, Zagster has hundreds of bikes deployed in more than 30 cities/towns in more than 20 states with thousands of members having taken tens of thousands of rides. Zagster has partnered with leading brands, including General Motors, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Related Companies, Novare Group, Quicken Loans, Yale University, Princeton University, Duke University and many others.

About Zagster

Founded in Philadelphia in 2007 as CityRyde and now headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Zagster is one of the nation’s first bike sharing companies. Zagster is uniquely focused on contracting with property managers, hotels, businesses, and universities across North America to make bike sharing programs available to tenants, employees, guests and students. This highly efficient and unique model allows Zagster to offer services in areas that traditional city-wide bike sharing systems can’t reach. More information about Zagster is available online at http://www.Zagster.com.

Zipcar, the world’s leading car sharing network, and Zagster, the leader in campus bike sharing, today announced their partnership to launch Zipbike, the first national, sponsored bike-share program for universities. Zipbike aims to redefine campus mobility by accelerating access to, and adoption of, bike sharing at colleges and universities across the country.